Thursday, September 24, 2009

This week is rather complicated/busy/unplanned/chaotic/tiring/awful/shite/strangely fun/exhausting and difficult.

I failed my Assignment in my resits and am no applying for the long shot of an appeals process, including my rash and other issues in my appeal.

It's a long story which i'll write about later.

Just to keep people informed and to maintain parts of my sanity i will regale you of this little story curtsy of Kaffee.

In all his wisdom and Guru ways of hang about the Society and being Kaffee he shared this with me:

K: Do you know the biblical story of Job?
SD: I know it was a McGuffin in..(stutter).. Mission Impossible. (it's more technically a plot-point)
K: Right, well it goes like this.

There was this guy called Job. God gave him everything in the world to test his faith. One day God and the Devil were watching tv, they weren't really but for the purpose of the story it works great. So god turns to the devil and say's: OLOS: Ye know what would be hilarious, if you went and fucked with that Job guy, ye know, for a laugh like?Luke: Alright, yer on.

So Lucifer Goes down to Earth and like, takes away all his posetions, all his land, rapes and murders his wife, slaughters his children, give's him boils and basically goes to town on him. And Job takes it all and after all this has happened God turns around and says, What the fuck like, and pays Job a visit.

OLOS: Eh, Job, Why did you not denounce me after all that shit went down.Job: I knew you were testing me. I knew that i believed i would be rewarded.OLOS: Seriously? Well alright then.

So God, feeling sorry for poor old Job, give's him his land back, give's him his posetions back, and generally repairs all the harm done. Cept for his wife and so on, that's just impossible.

SD: Wow, thats eh, pretty bad. Where's the morale of the story.K: Yeah i know, it's not exactly light hearted.SD: Yeah but it's not like the bible to not have a clear cut, ye know, ending. (Doi)K: I Suppose so..SD: Well actually, what am i saying, if you look at it, he never gave up, his "FAY-T" Never wavered.K: Yeah exactly, the world just shits on you sometimes, but ye gotta take it. (Words of Gammaman sub-planted for dramatic effect)SD: Well on monday, after i found out i failed, i played the euro millions, well the monday million and even though the ticket was a dud, and this week keeps going up and down, i get ye...

On a Side not this is also a bit of wisdom of Kaffee's.......

K: There's no such thing as poor people, except for Druggies and Paedophiles.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Now as an avid web user i have to say i spend a lot of time wondering what to do with my time on the web.

One thing that i have found is that i want to assimilate and read as much information as possible without having to scroll through old tweeter posts or facebook posts. I also want all that information as up-to-date as possible.

It may only be starting out but it is a real time search engine. It follow's the trends of what everyone is searching for and is basically all about current News, Gossip and internet Meme's.

Ye know, the dreggs of the internet. And i approve of this idea.

It also is trying to role out location specific sites, So eventually there will be a OneRiot.ie....

Now how exactly do i keep up with my Facebook and Twitter-ing, well i have yet to decide.

There is of course the old way, the websites, but this can be slow and boring. And if you're busy then chat's can get annoying.

DIGSBY
For Windows Live Messenger(MSN to old foggies like myself), Google Chat and facebook you have Digsby.

Digsby is great for chatting. It even combines accounts. It notify's you of incoming emails and even has Twitter and Facebook capabilities. With the facebook recently updated.

It is rather impressive and customisable. It is invaluable sometimes, but due to my slower, older computer sometimes i don't use it.

YOONO
An alternative is Yoono, and its far more Twitter based, but it also has nicer pop-ups.

It sports Google chat, MSN, Facebook, Imeem, FreindFeed and twitter to name but a few. And it has some nice little sounds for notifying you. It's not intrusive and isn't as demanding of Processing power as Digsby.

It's tweeting and status updating is also really good.

It even has it's own internet browser built in to help you look at links when you want to. Although you can set this to your default Browser.

It also sports a shareaholic button on every tweet and newsfeed item, for those really excessive sharer's.

There is a really small twitpic intigrated into update's and notifications.So you can see pictures right inside the tweet, which is very handy, but they are small...

It even has a Re-tweet button.

I do love it, but sometimes i prefare Digsby for it's chat windows. No one is on my MSN too often and Facebook Chat isn't on Yoono Yet, which is the real kicker. Also i can't get Google Talk to work, i'm not sure why, but i think it's the whole "college email" thing.

TweetDeck

TweetDeckis basically one of the top ways you can tweet on Twitter. It's a rather good aplication. It even has Twitpic built into it so you never have to go to another page to view a picture. And they are full size which is very handy.

I view tweetdeck as my HARDCORE tweeting application. It keeps track of whats going on and has group functions and so on.

But if i want to read the tweets, i have to actually have the window open. This is a pain.

It only has a flash notification up in the corner of my screen, and this is nothing, it doesn't tell me anything, other than there is a new tweet.

Digsby and Yoono show you the tweet, Digsby shortens it if it's too long, but it shows it.

Tweetdeck now also has FULL facebook news feeds. But it's not as interactive. You can't like stuff and comment as easily as Yoono or Digsby.

TweetDeck has large proliferation and is used by a lot of twitter users. And you can see all the cool Tweeter's and Tweet-Celebs are using it.

The facebook is still weak, but it's a growth that can't be ignored. I don't use it however. Ever since this new build i've used it less.

Flock (internet Browser)

Other means of getting Twitter and Facebook and other services.

I won't deny the fact that i am a Flocker.

Flock is a "Social-Networking" Browser.

Under the hood, so to speak, it is just Mozilla Firefox, but it comes with it's own constant connection to your Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, Photobucket, youtube, Gmail and it also has it's own Media stream search tool for photo's and video. It also boasts a blog writting tool that i have used frequently.

It also has a rather nifty Clipboard for Text and Photographs. You can literally drag a photo off a web page into the clip board and it save's it. You can then drag the photo into blog post's or emails and it does the linking and pasting for you. Which is rather handy.

Facebook's chat and notification system is also built in. However this is bizarrely faster than Facebook.com itself. Facebook experiance's so many hick-ups from updates that it leaves out notifications sometimes, so i'm left staring at the one's i didn't click on in Flock, wondering what the hell?

However, despite it now being my default browser it's Twitter and Facebook functions lay dormant.
They just don't look as nice and the notifications aren't the same. Also not all actions stay in the Sidebar pane when you use them, like friend request's and other notifications.

It requires more user action instead of being hand fed the information. Which is what Yoonom, Digsby and TweetDeck all do on certain levels.

Flock however is a sturdy browser and can accept Firefox add-ons.

So Shareaholic, Stumble-upon Toolbar, Foximusic and Google Toolbar.

There's other little buttons and tweeks about the place that make it a very handy browser.

But it's not without hick-ups. My computer is slow, and thus isn't actually built to handle it. This won't be a hick-up for most people, but it sometimes leaves me pulling my hair out.

Digsby also can create this problem. Yoono however is rather low demand and is suitable for some people who have yet to embrace the power demands of vista or windows 7, or even still just have a pc thats 4 or so years behind.

In short, i just can't pick and choose!

Flock all the time, as it's my browser.

Digsby most of the time for chatting.

Yoono for reading whats going on as it happens.

And Tweetdeck when I want to do some hard core tweeting, which isn't too often.

I had intended to chronical several idea's in seperate posts but instead i'll cram them together in brief snippets, because i'm lazy and just want to talk about all of them.

This morning i woke several times in my double bed. The feeling of oversleeping where you can just go to sleep again. Not a care in the world stopping me. It was great it was heaven and there were several dreams to keep me entertained, confused and generally comfertable that my imagination was running wild and not my real thoughts.

I woke around 1. This time i wasn't going back to sleep. I was beyond comfy, i was feeling the rough jumble of different blankets and now worn springed matress as the a big ball of cotton wool, it was great.

But in the pit of my stomach i ached for breakfast. So i took a few deep breaths swallowed my own saliva and hoped it would subside.

Finally i grabbed the book at my bed side. Not On The Road, as of yet unfinished, but instead that Little Secret record store purchase:

How I paid for College by Marc Acito.

The blurbs say it's a the greatest teen movie never made, worthy of Ferris Buller and other such great reviews. Several of them. Even "unputdownable".

This one proved right. 1980's New Jersey captured perfectly, or how i would imagine it.

And as the adventure started i was already on the fifth chapter by the time my hunger got the best of me and my mind was on fire with my own writing style and imagination.

What a way to wake up.

My Literary Hunger is a new seed in me. I have my stack of books. I have collected things i desperatly want to read, i've yet to however. Despite having the time. I also want to write so bad.

My blog posts have been sitting in my head since Wednesday and before.

On Wednesday evening, before a legendary film night With Ming and his friend Ché (for reference purpose's), I had a long chat with Ming about idea's for stories.

I sat in awe of his Philisophical deeper question idea's that were at the route of his stories. He claimed dialogue came easy when he wrote. He claimed he would splurge at the oddest of hours but never found the time to write.

I said that when i write it was to avoid doing other things. To force my distracted idea's out so that i could focus on what i should have been doing. But not with my blogs. No blogs are a relief. They're therapy, an extension of those weak lyrics and poems i wrote oh so long ago.

I won't chronicle all of Wednesday night and Thursday morning but i will mention the highlights.

Talking writing and philosophy and bigger questions with Ming.

Shopping for Salt at 1130pm for popcorn.

Pulp Fiction.

A Drinking game to Love actually where we drank Coke and Scotch to the words:
Feel/feeling
Christmas
British/English

We almost drank to the word Love, but we're not suicidal.

The following day i had little next to nothing to do. So i helped with the Society.

More lifting and bag packing. This time less people.

Wars of Witt over what music to play, and what constituted good music. Frankly this annoyed me a lot.

No one could reach a concencus, each ear individual, as i will always protest, but they didn't even except Popular songs, familiar singles. It was all about the arty/indie/meatloaf/electronica(mgmt)/folk and so on.

And yet despite such protests people LIKED Nirvana, they liked S Club Seven. The popular stuff would work as a collective, but people were spitful about several choice's and it was annoying. It's hard to be a DJ when it's not your music.

The Present is harder to predict than the Future.

Tomorrow i will be helping with the Society.

It's freshers week.

Also tomorrow i may be expecting my Exam results..... DUN DUN DUN....

I don't know how to feel. I'm far from sure how it will all turn out.

This week decide's it all. As did this time last year.

At the same time the banks were going to pot so was my life.

I had failed the supplementals. All due to lack of work and general malaise after a failed relationship.

I had selfish blinkers on and failed to work for my future.

Against my will, and lack there of, i was thrust on a rainy morning to repeat the year. The same day the Banks were being bailed out here in Ireland with a "Garuntee" i was being given a loan from my dads credit union to repeat the year.

It all seemed so bizarre and i didn't ever wake up to it.

I was down during my first placement that year, especially in the middle, all that Cleo shite.

I had no idea what i was doing, or where i was going with life.

And frankly i still don't. My life is nothing but Uncertainty, or at least in my head.

It's all far from over, and yet tomorrow and next week seem's so scary.

I should be having fun, enjoy the experiance. But i have my results tomorrow. And then a Driver Theory Test on Thursday.

Depending on my results i am either in placement the following week or not.

I also have to face my Blood resluts from my gp visits to learn about my unexplained rash.

And then to go to a private dermatology clinic the next week, on thursday, which will either be my Day off from placement, or yet another free day.....

It's all in the air. I have no idea what the rash is. Stress makes sense. But so do many other things. I hope it's not what the latest test were to rule out. Extra bloods on friday to rule out Addisons and Cushings. Endocrine disorders, rare one's at that. Frankly i hope i don't have either. It's a long shot but i don't want them.

After all i wanted to start working out and healthy living. I don't want to develop a hormone problem that includes bloating and so on. NO THANK YOU!

Or constant blood tests, no thank you.

Just like my life this country future is also uncertain.

Banama Republic indeed. As a hypocritical middle class socialist who's never really worked for anything and is full of lofty ignorant ideas i LOATH the idea of being indebt to the states mistakes until i die.

I never bought a house with no money.

I have all of one loan to pay back, and it was for education. I don't want to pay for mad cap development that was poorly managed and fueled by greed.

I'm a strong advocate of social amenities, transport and town planning. I believe in regulations and properly planned neighbourhoods and developments. I adore public transport.

Sure i love consumer goods, but i pirate music and watch shows online. I'm not perfect, i am far from a capitalist or a consumer.

I may buy softdrinks and other goods as a consumer on the go but i don't buy House's or car's i can't afford.

I didn't do this to the world. Why do i have to pay for it? Why do my children have to pay for other people's greed?

This is possibly my most conservative thought but the Government can get the fuck away from most of my hypothetical future income.

I will pay for normal social serivices and so on like a good citizen. I'll pay for taxes on my savings and insurance and so on, even a state pension(which i don't really like, since it's still taxed later on...), but i Won't pay for the Developers/speculators/bankers/wankers and consumer driven dick heads that ruined the world.

I admit i obviously played a minor role in all of this, but do i really have to pay for it?

Do any of us?

I expect to do my duty, pay normal taxes and live my life.

I don't want to be made poor to pay off a mistake i never made and shouldn't have to pay for.

If and when i start earning money i don't want any of it going towards NAMA or to prop up the banks.

If i earn money i will pay for what are the essential's of a civilised Country, but i will not pay for Greed. I won't support such blantant exploitation of the middle and lower classes while the bankers stay rich.

NO, FUCK THEM.

I'll vote for any sensible opposition to this. I will make sure as much as is democratically possible that i don't have to pay too much for this insane concept. I DO NOT WANT TO BE RIPPED OFF.

So far in life i have recieved a lot for nothing. When i start paying back with my income i want it shared equally. I don't want a large chunk going towards greed that i was not apart of.

I would be happy with social housing and so on. I don't really care about making my own home just yet. I will do so in due course, even eventually by whatever residence i have on my own, but not with an insane loan.

Anything above 50% is insulting to what looks like a Measly future income of mine.

Being a Nurse is or not is not really going to pay that much. Neither will the dream of Writing or other ventures.

So the idea of loosing my money to this Scheme sickens me. I can't stand it. I can't even articulate it because i am only an ignorant citizen, and they want to keep it that way.

I'm also apposed to Student fee's, but not in a militant way, more in an ideology sort of way.

I don't have a soloution to it's great expense but i know it's a worthy investment we can't loose.

We are already loosing it as many can't find work. The product of our affluent time and we could loose ALL of the people our parents and grandparents payed to educate.

I may not actually be here to complain in the future.....

That future may also need The Lisbon Treaty.

I have several reasons to vote yes.

And a few here and there to vote No.

I voted No the last time as a form of Ignorant Protest. I was against the principle of a coplicated document forced upon us when we were never informed properly and senisibly about it's contents.

No one knew a thing so we all said FUCK YOU to the government.

This time it won't have the same effect.

The country is in an awful state.

We may want the Government out.

After all we're in Debt to the banks for billions, the health care is weak, unemployment is sky rocketing, the economy is awful, consumer confidence is gone, and they can't even maintain a vital viaduct for commuters.

Even if we hate FF we have to agree with them.

We're fucked without Europe.

Europe is to big for it's own ideals. Too many members and not enough executive power, or faster democracy and so on and so forth.

Each of the 27 countries and future members need a voice. Under the current system they don't get much of one.

If we don't say yes to this we won't get the voice we actually want. If the Irish don't say yes we won't be listened to. Our own government doesn't as it is.

If we vote for confidence in the EU they will continue to support, direct and insitute laws for our benefit and co-operative involvement in Europe. Without it we will suffer. It's that simple.

I'm not well educated on the matter, but i can understand that.

From another point of view i loath the idea that the French and Spanish Steal our fish, and that our farmers can't compete on a Europe or World footing, but i conceede that we need European support for any of that.

We Need the European economy for Imports and Exports. We rely on them.

We also need their law's and protections. We need cheaper roaming charges on mobile phones. We need cheaper holidays close to home. We need Garunteed medical Insurrance and freedom of movement. We need the fact that we can work in any European country, and they here.

WE NEED EUROPE.

However i also have another reason to vote Yes.

Peer Pressure. Certain Accaintance's are absoloute dicks when it comes to the Lisbon Treaty. They scoff at the "ignorance" of the Irish people. They openly spew support for europe and the free market economy alsmost like brain washed people or basic twats. I can't stand it. Of course Europe is good, but people resent the Choice presented to them. They don't understand it and frankly don't want to have to deal with the problem.

Basically in theory democracy is great, the only real problem in some instance's, is the People.

The People will rarely reach a concessus worthy of the real general opinion. Right Now IRELAND HATE'S POLOTICS.

We Fear NAMA. We HATE FF. We haven't a clue about Lisbon. We the people of Ireland don't want to deal with it. But we have to.

And what we have to do is Vote yes. Vote Against FF and Hope that our Children can follow our footsteps and make things better again. We can't rely on the current crop to make everything better overnight. But with the right choice's we can get ourselves back on path.

A path where NAMA doesn't take too long to be payed back. A path where the people of Ireland our looked after and safe. A Path where they have money to spare, but not to overspend. A path where we have everything we diseverve and a path where we don't become overwhelmed by the greed that plagued recent years.

It may be a dream but we must achieve it.

There are many issue's that the youth of Ireland differ from their parents on.

The question of the North can't truely be decided but others are a bit more liberal.

We would freely Allow Gay Marraige.

And in a heartbeat we would allow Abortion for Emergency situations, with slightly better powers than currently exist. A full free service for a Womans choice is harder to agree on, but a lot of today's youth have no problem and feel the choice should be decided upon again and again until choice and equality is represented.

The Youth of today want job security, and a stable economy with consumer goods.

They want to be involved in the world and their local area's.

They have a fever for activism, liberlism and change. But little outlet and little hope for the large changes they would hope for right now.

In truth many of them will become bitter and hardned by the hardships ahead of us. It is unlikely that this positive demand for change will actually last much longer. And it's quite possible that we could loose reach with the youth of tomorrow as well as today.

The future is uncertain. The Present is Uncertain. But it doesn't mean we can't work, educate and prepare for what will be a difficult Century for humanity.

Will technology plateu or will we continue to grow?

Will we reach other planets in our star system or kill ourselves over energy and resources?

Or will we sit in mediocrity still arguing about exploitation, inequalities, and the future?

I know i will be. Unless i do something with my life. And so should the rest of the world. A lofty idea. But we can't help but try....

Friday, September 18, 2009

Now i have to say it has been a long time coming. I love The Like, and have eagerly been awaiting their follow up album to 2006's Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking.

In Early 2008, In London, Z Berg, Charlotte Froom and Tennessee Williams recorded their tracks for the next album. They had fun, they made fireworks, they took a cardboard cut out of Tina Turner and it all looked like things were going to be great.

Here are some of their Photo's from that time:

So what happened after that?

Well they said they were going to take a little break. Which they did, after 2 or so years of touring they needed it.

They did a few gigs as well, tested the new songs and so on.

They also did some DJ work with friends:

And Z did an acoustic set on her own:

But then Myspace went quiet. The fan message board moved and was also quiet. Every fan wanted the new album, Even my Friend DS, a strong Muse fan who i dragged to their Only gig in Dublin couldn't wait for the new album.

The Song Realse Me was performed acoustically on a radio station and the fans ripped it and loved it.

It sat on there myspace for ages racking up the listened counter.

The page became beset with spam and the girls rarely popped by.

But then recently, out of nowhere, new music, new line up, new layout, and gigs!

The Like 2.0 Were born.

Charlotte Froom the Bass Player and partial backing vocalist, an old friend of all of them was now gone. After years together they split.

This was them when they were only young:

What happened to her and her hot pants i don't know but it was a shame.

How sad that friendships devide or whatever happened:

But With Charlotte gone there is now Reni Lane on the Organ and Laena Geronimo on Bass.

Here is what The Like 2.0 looks like:

Z Berg
Reni Lane:
Teneessee Williams:

Practicing some new tunes:
Resting and possing all at the same time:

So with the future and a new album on the way, let's hope there is more fun antics:

And More Celeb Friends:

And more Outfits like this:

and This:

So check out these lovely ladies over on their Myspace and Download thier new song Fair Game.

Release me
Narcissuss in a red dress
Wishing he was dead
and He's Not A Boy

Are all available for you aural delight as is this teasing little Video of Release me:

They are also on Tour with Arctic Monkeys in the United States at the Moment.

So here is more Photo's from my Blog reading. Enjoy the meme's, and the splendor that is the internet.

NERDZ ROOL!!!

What's not to like?

Weeeee, it looks like SO much fun!

Gotta love a bit of Calvin, this time without the Hobbes.

An Amazing Alternate poster for possibly one of the best movies ever made.

Kanye's F' Up is now a very extensive internet meme that's gathering speed, Par Example:

Thunder in San Fransisco.

Fucking iPhone Users.

An MIT student Captured this view of space with a Cheap Mobile Phone, Durecell Batteries, an Altometer, a Baloon and some Helium. All very cheaply too. Cool!

I just love the look of this house. Right on A river, almost hanging over it.

This Unsettling photo is appear all over the place. Its apparently from the New York times, or the New Yorker, i'm not arsed to check, but its shocking.

It shows a Jewish teenager in a town Where Both Israeli and Palestinians live side by side. The ignorance and contempt is obvious. Not only is he being a brat of a teenager. But he is also showing how his cultural and Ethinic setting are also influencing him and adding further weight to how this is wrong.

And yet he's not ACTUALLY hitting her. He's NOT bulldozing her house, firing phosphurus shells or stealing the Land of another nation. No he is merely throwing a drink with Hate, Ignorance, Youthful rebelion and Racism because he is just a Brat.

He could be anyone anywhere, spitting on another human being. But Instead he is a young devote Jewish boy persecuting an old Palestenian woman.

Far more moving stuff than any scene's of real violence or agony. This shows the most basic level of Hate and lack of respect for another human being. He's a brat excused and not excused by his surroundings.

A Rather Nice black and white Photo, very well frammed at that....

Cypto-zoologists must be loving this find! Apparently Gollum has been found in South America. It could just be something else born with a birth defect and no hair, but damn it is bizarre and interesting.

Trooper 110 Had no idea why he was posted to the Death Star during the battle of Yavin, this may be why:

RAWWWWWWWGGGG NOOOOOOEEESSSSS, yeah its old but its great.

"Play dough", its as safe as play with matches!

If your kid makes this, he's a woodsman not a serial killer.....

500 Merchant Vessels are sitting off the coast of Singapore. All to do with the Recession. A 12% drop in merchant shipping means there's less demand for imports and less profit to be made from shipping long distances. These ships are all Asia based and SHOULD be bringing Christmas to us, but they're owners are all going bust.

Even Bulk Freighters are affected. More Capacity than Demand.

Apparently Hitler may have played chess with a friend of Lenin who signed his name as Lenin in 1909, and Hitlers Jewish Art teacher Etched it. Weird, but partially true!

The Chess set is up for auction soon. Hitler definetly played with the chess set, as for who the opponent in the Etching is, is anyone's guess, even if he and Hitler signed their names on the back. Lenin is Reported to have been in France and Belgium at the time, but not Vienna where this game took place.